The 10-year-old Las Cruces boy recently showed his skills in the family's backyard by running, jumping, swinging and climbing his way through nearly a dozen challenging obstacles — not once pausing to catch his breath or calculate his next move.

Taming the course is a hobby that helped him land him a spot on the upcoming television series "American Ninja Warrior Junior."

Odom, who goes by the nickname “Barefoot Warrior,” flew with his family and several friends to Los Angeles in July to compete in the first American Ninja Warrior Junior competition.

A spin-off of the original "American Ninja Warrior," this new series features kids ages 9 to 14 battling head-to-head on an obstacle course to win the title of American Ninja Warrior Junior Champions. The junior course features six scaled-down ninja obstacles including iconic ones such as the Sonic Swing, Spin Cycle and the Warped Wall.

Course of action

For the Odom family, this whirlwind adventure started just a few months ago, when Miles’ father Greg Odom — a mechanical engineer — built Miles his own version of the Warped Wall — a curving-toward-you wall that challenges competitors to reach the top using sheer momentum.

The wall was a gift for Miles’ birthday in March, which spurred from his fascination with the television series and his father’s own miniature of another show classic, the Salmon Ladder — a structure with one movable rung that competitors use to climb upward.

However, it wasn’t until May that the Odom family found out about the new competition, which sent the obstacle-course craze into overdrive.

“We went to a potluck and a friend goes, ‘Oh, did you apply for the junior show?’,” said Miles’ mother Tamara Odom. “And we were like, ‘What? There’s a junior show?’

“The deadline was that night. So, we came home at like 8:30 and we just started filming stuff around the yard, and we sent it in and we thought, ‘Oh it’s probably not going to happen, it’s last minute.’ And then they called us the next week!”

The Odoms said they were shocked to see Miles be one of fewer than 200 participants chosen from more than 10,000 applicants to be part of the show.

“We just had no idea that he would get this opportunity,” said Greg Odom. “And then after we found out, it was like, ‘OK. Now we can have a playground in the backyard.’ It was going to be one thing but now we get to do more.”

Since Miles’ casting on the show, the Odoms’ backyard course has expanded to more than a dozen different obstacles for Miles to train on including classic challenges like the Unstable Bridge, Tick Tock, Quintuple Steps and the Wingnuts.

Miles, a fifth-grader at East Picacho Elementary, is no stranger to athletic challenges. Besides his ninja warrior training, he plays for the Las Cruces Youth Soccer League team the Las Cruces Timbers, as well as for the Picacho Middle School tennis team.

In preparation for his appearance on the show, Miles continued his usual schedule of sports practices and training in the backyard, but also added gymnastics training three times a week to help build his strength.

In his backyard, he trains barefoot — hence the nickname — but during competition wears shoes.

Miles said he was excited to compete on the real course in Los Angeles and especially enjoyed his mentorship from professional "ninjas" Barclay Stockett and Drew Drechsel.

“It was really fun to see all the other professional ninjas,” he said. “It was a lot of fun to have them teach you … They gave you tips on obstacles that were hard, like how to do them faster.”

Teaching others

Leaping off Miles’ momentum from the American Ninja Warrior Junior challenge in Los Angeles, the Odoms traveled to Lubbock, Texas, last weekend for a regional competition with the National Ninja League. Miles took home the gold for his age bracket, flying through 14 obstacles in less than four minutes. With his win, Miles qualified for the national competition that will take place in February.

Now, with the competitions behind them, the backyard course often serves as the neighborhood hangout, with kids coming over almost every night to try their hand at the obstacles.

Greg said he enjoys watching Miles and his friends play on the course because Miles tends to channel his inner coach.

“It’s kind of neat because he’ll have his friends over who don’t know some of the obstacles as well, so Miles kind of takes the coach role,” Greg said. “I think it’s really cool he’s out there helping them.”

Miles says he plans to keep practicing and trying out each year until the 'Barefoot Warrior' makes it back to Los Angeles for the original America Ninja Warrior competition.

Miles will appear in the first season of "America Ninja Warrior Junior" on NBC’s Universal Kids. The 20-episode run premieres at 7 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, Oct. 13.

Kaitlin Englund is a freelance writer and can be reached at englundk2@gmail.com.